10. The Kings of
Summer - Very had to choose what would
eventually make the top ten list as many many other movies were well deserving
to be on this list but Kings of Summer just had something going for it that
kept me happy when I looked back on it. I knew nothing of this film before
seeing it. The reason I saw it was because I had a free rental on Redbox and my
wife liked the preview. I think I should listen to my wife more often (she also
randomly chose to see Beats of the Southern Wild last year without me knowing
anything at all about the film, and it made it #8 on my top movies of last
year). Kings of Summer is the story of three friends who run away and build
their own house in the woods one summer. What the movie really did well is
portray the emotions we all have as teenagers who are growing up. The three
boys are close friends but are all dealing with issues a typical teenager will
have. Moises Arias as Biaggio has what
is one of my favorite comedic performances of 2013. I strongly suggest you see
this movie if you can.

Watched 10/3/13

9. American Hustle - I recently saw American Hustle and it
easily was one of my favorite movies of the year. Director David O. Russell can
seemingly do no wrong right now and it is paying off for us cinema lovers. He
nails the atmosphere of the 70’s with the clothes, music, and look of the film.
You have what is probably the best cast of 2013 in Amy Adams, Christian Bale,
Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence. Russell can really get
the best performances out his actors and does it yet again with this one. I
found he really has a knack of having women give just career performances (his
Silver Linings Playbook won Jennifer Lawrence an Oscar last year) and no
different here again as Adams and Lawrence are both amazing. American Hustle is a smart movie with amazing
dialog.

Watched 12/22/13

8. The World’s End –
This is probably where you can tell this is not a typical Top Ten List of
critically acclaimed movies. The World’s
End is done by one of my favorite directors, Edgar Wright who with this film
completed the cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s
End). The movie starts out as old high school friends reuniting to have a pub
crawl but things go wrong and it leads to sci-fi elements. I won’t spoil too
much of it as the twist could crawl into spoiler territory. Of course it
features Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who once again form a great comedic duo.
Wright has become of my favorite directors with his great attention to detail
in almost every movie hes made so far.The World’s End is no different and fits
in perfect with the other movies he has done with Pegg and Frost.

Watched 8/22/13 & 9/9/13

7. Before Midnight –
Up to this year I had never seen any of the other films in the Before series
(Before Sunrise and Before Sunset) so I was spoiled in many ways not having to
wait many years between each movie. I also think it threw me off because I saw
the amazing love story between Jesse and Celine (played with amazingly
realistic chemistry by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy). We have followed this
couple from a chance meeting to being a fully fledged couple who are dealing
with the realities of having children, career issues, and making a partnership
work in our modern day. I believe this movie would be higher on my list if I
hadn’t seen the two other movies so close to it before hand. I was in love with
this couple and seeing the vicious and realistic reasons they were fighting in
this movie sort of broke my heart in different ways. I am not sure if there has
been such a romance as seen in these three movies and I wouldn’t mind seeing these two talk every
few years.

Watched 11/22/13

6. The Place Beyond the Pines – It has been a long time
since I saw this movie and it was on the top of my list of much of the year.
The Place Beyond the Pines was a beautifully shot film that deals with how
fathers affect their sons. The movie is
broken up into different stories.: One features Ryan Gosling as a man who finds
out he is a dad and he had to use his skills as a motorcycle performer to help
support his family. Gosling gives an amazing and haunted performance, easily
one of the best of his career. The other story features Bradley Cooper as a
police officer who is rewarded for doing something that has left him broken. The motto of the story is about trying to do
the right thing but going about it in the wrong way. The movie looks amazing
and the music and atmosphere just add to the the overall feeling of The Place
Beyond The Pines. Go see this one as soon as you can.

Watched 4/21/13

5. Mud – Matthew McConaughey welcome back! I just wanted to
give Mr. McConaughey a big shout out for his roles and performances of late. He
has had a stellar (or soon to be Interstellar) last few years. Mud, Bernie,
Killer Joe, Dallas Buyers Club, and Wolf of Wall Street have given me a new
found respect for this once Ghost of Girlfriends Past star. He is amazing in
Mud, he is Mud a man on the run who happened across two teenage boys who he
quickly forms a bond with. You can feel the passion from everyone in the movie
including the writer/director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) and the teenager Ellis played wonderfully by Tye Sheridan,
watch out for him in the future. You
really care about the characters in this movie because of all I have said in
this review. The heart and soul of the movie is McConaughey who shines as Mud,
you will be enthralled by his performance. He is well deserving of an Oscar
nomination if not for this for another one his roles this year.

Watched 8/23/13

4. This Is The End –
I know this movie won’t be appearing on anyone best of list this year but I had
to add it to my list because I found it to be one of the most enjoyable films
of 2013. I really appreciate a movie that keeps me laughing almost all the way
through and This Is The End was able to do that. When you have Jonah Hill, Seth
Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson (not to mention dozen of
great cameos) you have a lot to live up to and they just nail it in this
movie. I found myself laughing really
hard and wanting to go see the movie right after getting out of the theatre,
sure this won’t win anything but damn this is a movie you want to see again and
again and that counts for a lot. I saw this movie more then any other new
release in 2013. I own the bluray and I am sure to watch This Is the End
whenever I want a good laugh.

Watched 6/13/13, 6/16, 6/23, 10/1

3. Prisoners - There
wasn’t a more intensely acted movie in 2013 I saw then Prisoners, you have
stand out performances from Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal and a cast of
actors who do amazing work. The movie is not a movie you go into knowing it
will be easy to watch as the story is about kindnapping of two little girls.
The director Denis Villeneuve paints a dark and grey world, the movie never has
any sunlight in it which sets up the bleak setting of the movie. Gyllenhall is Detective Loki a man who feels
what the families are going through and throws his heart and soul into finding
the missing children. You really feel as if the people in the movie are real,
they really made sure to make everything feel real from the homes to the
families seen in Prisoners. Jackman is a man who won’t settle for waiting for
his child to be found. He goes vigilante and kidnaps who he feels might have a
lead to where his daughter is. I was mesmerized by the events of the movie as
it kept me on the edge of my seat wondering if there really was any hope in
this bleak and sad world of Prisoners. I really felt for the families and was
nervous to see how this would end. I would say the movie reminds me of a David
Fincher movie in many ways. This movie is hard to watch but the look, sound,
and acting in the movie make it easily one of the most intense movie I saw in
2013.

Watched 9/24/13

2. The Wolf Of Wall Street - Scorsese and DiCaprio team up yet again and
give us what could be DiCaprios best performance to date. I wasn’t sure what to
expect when I went to see The Wolf of Wall Street but it was probably one of
the best experience I had in cinema this year (well second best..). I found
this movie to be just full of energy and a damn fine film in almost every
aspect (acting, directing, music, editing, etc). This is the story of Jordan Belfort
(DiCaprio) and his rise to becoming the big wig on Wall Street. The movie seems
like it could be a serious drama but the movie is more of a very adult comedy where
you get humor and lots of dark and prostitute humor. I really think they went
all in on this and it really pays off.
Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey are both laugh out hilarious as wall
street bankers. DiCaprio and Hill should be nominated when time comes, along
with Scorsese and a bunch more people. This is a fine American film and I am
glad someone is still making films like this. It was probably the fastest 3
hours of cinema I saw this year.

Watched 12/29/13

1. Gravity – This is not a movie this is an experience to be
had and after the movie I had to take a breath because I seriously felt drained
from this movie and that is something that I loved about it. There is so much
more to touch on about this modern masterpiece! You have a great performance
from Sandra Bullock who is working alone for most of the movie yet still keeps
you very into the movie. Of course you have the great Alfonso Cuaron directing,
he made the movie realistic as he could and his style is powerful and engaging.
This movie has some of the best effects I have ever seen in cinema to this
point. You really feel like you are in
space and get the utter isolation that comes into play with Bullocks character
Ryan Stone. George Clooney also is the other star of the film and is his usual
charming self. The story is simple but still very powerful; I didn’t expect
that it would have the effect on me that it did end up having. There was simply
not a more visually stunning and tense movie released this year. This is the
reason while I attend cinema!